An idea from a design class
According to the archived company page, the concept came from team member Gary Walters, an Army veteran who wears a below-knee prosthesis. He found that heat and sweat at the point where limb and socket meet could be hard to bear and could get in the way of daily life. He suggested that his fellow engineering students try to solve the problem for their final-year project.
From contest to company
The group began as a team for the University of Texas at San Antonio’s CITE student venture contest, run by the Center for Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship. It brought together four mechanical engineering seniors and four business students. The engineers developed the product idea and built a working prototype, and the business students researched the market and drafted a plan. They won the competition in April 2013, a few weeks before graduating, and the team then continued as a company.
Why San Antonio
The archived page expressed pride in the city and listed institutions the company saw as valuable neighbours: a health science centre of the state university, a major research institute and the army’s centre for rehabilitation at Brooke Army Medical Center. The company said it wanted to keep its base there to build professional relationships.
Reading this page
This is a secondhand summary of 2013 to 2016 material. Claims about the company’s plans were the company’s own and are not verified here. See the problem statement and the people page for more.